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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Thursday, March 1, 2007 9:46 PM CST
Students portray real-life figures at Lake Crest ‘wax museum’

BY ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com

OAKLAND -- Portraying famous real-life characters is an educational experience for eighth graders in the annual “wax museum” program at Lake Crest School.

In addition, teacher Brenda Houk said the program also gets students working side by side with their parents on costumes and props.

“I love the way they have been able to spend time together,” Houk said. “The parents and the students take pride in what they have done.”

Several parents visited the wax museum on Thursday and snapped photos of their children dressed as figures drawn from books they had read. The students stayed in character to talk about who they portrayed and went out of character to talk about their costumes and props.

Wearing a red wig and polka-dot dress, Lindsey Apple portrayed actress Lucille Ball. Apple said she became a fan of Ball’s humor while watching “I Love Lucy” reruns.

Apple and her mom brought “I Love Lucy” cookies and chocolates on Thursday. The latter treats paid tribute to Apple’s favorite episode, in which Lucy falls behind while working on a candy assembly line and stuffs the excess chocolates in her mouth.

Elizabeth Timmons portrayed Queen Elizabeth I of England, wearing a wedding dress the student’s mom ornamented with gold lace and roping. Timmons said she was drawn to Elizabeth by their common name and by the queen’s independent spirit.

“She was very independent, and I want to be independent,” Timmons said.

Jesse Clifton portrayed President Franklin Roosevelt, sitting in a wood-frame wheelchair provided by a classmate’s grandmother. Clifton said he admires Roosevelt for not letting his disability, caused by polio, hold him back as he led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II.

“It shows how strong he was. He was the president and he was in a wheelchair,” Clifton said.

To portray Joan of Arc, Stefanie Borntreger had herself tied to a stake to represent the French martyr’s fiery death at the hands of English oppressors in 1431. Her dad made the stake from shipping tubes and PVC pipes, painting them brown.

“I thought this portrayed a lot of what people know about Joan of Arc as someone who died on the stake for her beliefs,” Borntreger said. She added Joan of Arc is an icon for Christianity, feminism and nationalism.

A trio of students partnered to bring to life figures from the 1804-06 Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Coast and back. Keira Riggleman and Kathleen White portrayed explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, respectively. Lacie Dague portrayed their Native American guide Sacajawea.

The three students shared costumes and props, including a wooden canoe, assembled with the help of their families. Dague said she could not imagine traveling by foot and canoe across half the country like Sacajawea did as a teenager.

“It would be scary!” Dague exclaimed.

Other participants were Nic Turner as Walter Payton; Kyndal Ridgeway, Sandra Day O’Connor; Ryan Clarkson, Jon Bon Jovi; Heather Conroy, Cleopatra; Eleni Ethington, Carly Patterson; Branden Veach, Lance Armstrong; Brittany Olinger, Harriet Tubman; Brittni Hoel, Clara Barton; Jordan Cox, Ray Charles; Amber Davis, Goldie Hawn; Amanda Smith, Helen Keller; Neumasia Titus, Princess Diana; Anthony Patton, John F. Kennedy; Ryan Boes, Stevie Ray Vaughn; Bryce Wilson, Jim Carey; Allen Denk, Jeremy McGrath; and Tyler Eveland, Nelson Mandela.

Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.

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Stephen wrote on Jul 17, 2006 8:22 AM:

" I can't believe the police use Facebook to look for parties. "

Defaulticus Rex wrote on Jul 17, 2006 2:17 PM:

" The police in Charleston use Facebook to look for "a heads-up" on parties and "similar tips"? I advise anyone who would use Facebook as a law enforcement tool to please read the privacy and terms of use pages on Facebook. Every second spent sitting around trollinng through students' Facebook profiles could be used on more important things... like trying to stop the terrible Methamphetamine crisis in our county. "

Doug wrote on Jul 17, 2006 3:42 PM:

" It's unbelievable the personal information people post on Myspace and similar sites. heck, the Columbine killers practically announced their attentions ahead of time in a similar way, but no one paid attention. I think occasionally reviewing these sites is just fine, and will in fact help fight the Meth problem. "

Flood wrote on Jul 17, 2006 4:23 PM:

" True, but I think if a person is dumb enough to broadcast illegal activity in a public forum like that, they almost deserve to get caught. It's not like facebook is meant to be an anonmous alter-ego like many online situations. "

Madison Fisher wrote on May 29, 2007 3:54 PM:

" Well, I agree with what Corrine and ZOe said even though i didn't use to like to learn about abe what we did there was realy cool. I go to Jefferson and MR. Taylor has all was been very interested it Abe Lincoln and now i am to. It's realy great to understan what he learnd. "

shelly wrote on Jun 7, 2007 7:29 AM:

" I think SBLHC has to much controll over this community, they seem to only care about the bottom line even when you call there the first option to select is the billing department even befor the emergency room. that says alot "

Sara Martin wrote on Jun 13, 2007 2:35 PM:

" Well, this has been my second year going to Jefferson school,at my old school they never realy engaged in that sort of learning.so iwas realy excited when they brought that in to our school "

lbabycakes44 wrote on Jul 31, 2008 6:41 PM:

" Bagelfest... I think in my opinion it was so much better when it was up on Broadway between 14- 17th Streets...more room to go and do things..instead of being confined in a park... I used to like going to it when I was younger..now I really dont get that much into it..since then..they have added a beer tent...which means more people inebriated around children...which to some people that I have spoken with, they really arent all up on that idea..but they deal with it..

To me its the same thing every year...put some minds together and add a few more activities..the Bagel Bow-wow and the pageant are getting to be "old news" ..as in bagel -boring...zzzzzz "

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Ken Trevarthan (JG/T-C)

Lake Crest School eighth grader Liz Timmons answers questions from her 'throne' as she portrays Queen Elizabeth I during the annual Living Book Museum on Thursday morning at the school in Oakland.